(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of fitting out equipment of an aircraft, in particular a rotorcraft, for installation on a fuselage structure of the rotorcraft. The present invention relates more particularly to ways of mounting such equipment on board a rotorcraft, the equipment comprising man-machine interface instruments and a front avionics rack.
(2) Description of Related Art
Rotorcraft cockpits are fitted with instruments that provide an interface between a human pilot and various functional members of the rotorcraft.
The interface instruments comprise control instruments that can be operated by the pilot, such as control knobs and/or sliders, for example. The interface instruments also include instruments for monitoring the functioning of the rotorcraft, in particular by means of a display, such as screens and/or analogous display members. Such interface instruments are used by the pilot in order to control the operation of the rotorcraft.
By way of example, the functional members may be computers used for managing the operation of the rotorcraft, ancillary equipment of the rotorcraft, or indeed on-board instruments such as information sensors and measurement and/or calculation means that are of use in operating the rotorcraft. The ancillary equipment may comprise, for example: comfort equipment such as an installation for providing ventilation, heating, and/or air conditioning, such as a lighting system, or such any other auxiliary equipment of the rotorcraft.
In order to manage the operation of the rotorcraft, the computers, the interface instruments, the ancillary equipment, and the various on-board instruments with which the rotorcraft is provided are distributed about the rotorcraft and they are put into communication with one another via a cabling and communications bus network.
In this context, the interface instruments are grouped together in an instrument panel incorporated in a dashboard of the cockpit. Interface instruments are installed in particular on a front face support, e.g. arranged as a desk and/or as a console and/or any other analogous support suitable for receiving said interface instruments. The front face support or analogous structure carrying one or more interface instruments has various compartments arranged for selectively receiving interface instruments.
Such rotorcraft cockpit arrangements are disclosed for example in the following documents: U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,838 (R. L. Adelson), US 2012/075120 (A. Barbieri), EP 0 283 926 (Messerschmitt Boelkow), and US 2007/198141 (T. G. Moore).
The computers used for managing the operation of the rotorcraft are commonly distributed in various avionics racks in order to be installed on board the rotorcraft. These various avionics racks include at least one front avionics rack that is placed at the front of the rotorcraft. The avionics racks form stations for selectively hosting one or more calculation units combining various computers and/or other electronic means for controlling the operation of the rotorcraft.
The interface instruments and the computers housed in the avionics racks are fitted with connectors enabling them to be electrically connected with various members of the rotorcraft by means of cabling. The various computers distributed on board the rotorcraft are put into communication with one another via a communications network that makes use of avionics cabling suitable for conveying communications bus signals, of data concentrators, and of gateway components that are fitted to various avionics racks.
More particularly, the cabling provides a function of electrically powering the interface instruments and the computers from the on-board electricity network of the rotorcraft. The cabling also provides a function of conveying signals for putting the interface instruments and the computers into communication with one another and/or with various computers distributed around the rotorcraft. The cabling also serves to communicate with various pieces of equipment and/or members of the rotorcraft presenting operation that needs to be controlled, where such equipment and/or members are potentially sources of information that is useful to the computers and to the interface instruments.
It is conventional to install a fuselage structure of the rotorcraft on an assembly line in order to mount its equipment therein. In the context of the present invention, said fuselage structure should be considered as corresponding to the front portion of the rotorcraft that is to be equipped, in particular for installing interface instruments, at least one front avionics rack, and cabling associated therewith for providing electrical power and for establishing communication with various remote members distributed around the rotorcraft.
It is desirable for the interface instruments, or indeed the front avionics rack, to be installed on the fuselage structure as late as possible in order to limit any risk of damage.
That is why it is common practice initially to install a front face support on the fuselage structure in the cockpit. Then cabling made up of various harnesses specifically for the interface instruments and the computers housed in the front avionics rack is installed on the fuselage structure. The functioning of the cabling is then verified and, where necessary, cabling repairs are carried out.
Thereafter, the interface instruments are installed on the front face support. The front avionics rack is installed on the fuselage structure in a dedicated location, in particular a location in the nose of the rotorcraft. The cabling is selectively connected to the interface instruments and to the computers housed in the front avionics rack, by means of connectors with which they are fitted. The functioning of the various interface instruments and computers housed in the front avionics rack is verified, and where necessary, repairs are carried out.
In this context, it is found that there is room to improve such ways of installing interface instruments and the front avionics rack on the fuselage structure.
For example, it is found that it would be useful to shorten the time required for fitting equipment to said fuselage structure. It is also desirable to make it easier to fit out the cockpit and install the front avionics rack. Nevertheless, that is made difficult because of the various sequences performed by operators in order to fit out the cockpit and in order to install the front avionics rack, given the confined space in which the operators must act, given the shape of the front fuselage structure of the rotorcraft.
By way of example, it has also been observed that the organization of the assembly line specifically for fitting equipment to said fuselage structure would benefit from being simplified. In particular, it is useful to improve the organization whereby the assembly line is supplied with components in order to limit the number of different kinds of component beside the assembly line and in order to simplify the operations that need to be performed to install such components on board the rotorcraft.
By way of example, it should also be considered that the way the front zone of a rotorcraft is arranged must also satisfy specific requests depending on various operating needs of rotorcraft. Such numerous needs involve in particular specific organizations for the front avionics rack and for the means for establishing communication between the various computers, pieces of ancillary equipment, and/or on-board equipments distributed around the rotorcraft. Consequently, standardizing the arrangement of the fuselage structure and the organization of the assembly line is not made easy. It is desirable for the specific features of the front zone for satisfying the needs of such a specific request to be taken into account as late as possible on the assembly line in order to improve standardization of the organization of the front zone of a rotorcraft.
It has also been observed for example that the techniques used for fitting equipment to said fuselage structure make it difficult subsequently to reorganize the front avionics rack. Such possible subsequent reorganization involves potentially incorporating computers housed in the front avionics rack in the context of an upgradable communications network, such as that disclosed by document FR 2 962 617 (Eurocopter France).
In the context of a search for said improvements, it is necessary to avoid overcomplicating the organization and the cabling specific to the interface instruments and to the avionics rack. It is also desirable to take advantage of said search for improvements to reduce the overall weight of the means used in the context of such a search. Account should also be taken of constraints associated with rotorcraft maintenance, where maintenance must be easy to perform and must be capable of being carried out while limiting the costs of intervention.